1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to precut and fitted door and frame assemblies, and more particularly to an adjustable hinge construction in which the hinge stile is formed of an extruded metal channel with clamping plate slidably disposed within the channel for adjustably receiving the hinge mounting screws or fasteners.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Precut and fitted coors and frame assemblies are becoming increasingly popular with builders because of the labor saving advantages they offer. Although good quality control during factory production has eliminated many clearance problems, prefabricated doors still require close tolerance dimensioning, particularly when the doors are hung on hinges at the building site. For example, it is often necessary to adjust or slightly re-position the doors on its hinges so that the door will properly fit within the door jamb without unslightly and energy wasteful air gaps.
The problem of prefabricated door alignment is generally addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,037 entitled "Prefabricated Door and Frame Assembly" which issued to the present inventor on Sept. 12, 1972. The door and frame assembly disclosed in said patent comprised a floating hinge connection which allowed the door to be adjusted relative to the door jamb as and when necessary. More specifically, the floating hinge connection included a floating plate located at the hinge position fastened to the hinge stile by rivets so that it had lateral freedom of movement. The floating connection was obtained by oversized holes for the rivet pins so that side to side and up and down movement was possible.
While the above described door and frame assembly is generally satisfactory, there remains a need for improvement. For example, in the prior art assembly the heads of the floating hinge rivets are exposed along the edge of the finished door, which is considered by some to be unsightly. Furthermore, it is desirable to reduce manufacturing costs and assembly times attributable to the floating hinge rivets, hence elimination of these rivets would greatly improve the prefabricated door and frame assembly.